Partnership working shifts up a gear at cycle crime conference

The second Steering Clear of Cycle Crime Conference, hosted by BikeRegister, recently took place in Birmingham.

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The second Steering Clear of Cycle Crime Conference, hosted by BikeRegister, the national cycle database, in association with British Transport Police (BTP), has taken place in Birmingham.

Following on from last year's event, officers from 28 police forces attended this one-day cycle crime conference, along with key partners from the cycling, education and security industries.

The theme for this year's conference was ‘Partnership Working’, with the speakers highlighting the importance of working together to beat bike crime. Over 140 delegates got the chance to hear about successful operations to reduce cycle theft and share best practice on cycle crime solutions.

Crime Reduction Expert Sgt Andy Gregory from West Midlands Police chaired the event, which for the first time featured the 2016 BikeRegister Cycle Crime Awards ceremony.

There were also presentations from a number of guest speakers:

Supt Jenny Gilmer from BTP gave an informative Cycle Crime Overview detailing bike theft incidents that took place last year in areas under BTP jurisdiction. She explained the new #LockItMarkIt campaign, which is being promoted across BTP as a means to deter theft by promoting locking best practice combined with BikeRegister bike marking.

Julie Onwukegu, Head of Crime Reduction at BTP, spoke about partnership working and how BTP together with BikeRegister, Met Police and City of London Police are launching the #LockItMarkIt campaign, which will see a joined-up approach to promoting bike marking events in London.

Sgt Paul Byrne from States of Jersey Police talked about the success of Operation Locknut, which has used BikeRegister to drive down bike crime by 32% on the island. All local bike shops support the system and offer bike marking sessions to local residents.

Emma Crowton from Transport for West Midlands spoke about the rise in popularity of cycling in the West Midlands; and the benefits of partnership working with West Midlands Combined Authority, which comprises 12 local authorities and 3 local enterprise partnerships.

Roger Seal from ABUS Mobile Security UK & Ireland gave delegates some valuable advice on which lock to choose to protect their bikes. He explained that 54% of bike theft takes place from sheds and garages because many people feel their bike is safe at home and therefore don't lock it.

James Brown commented: “We are delighted with the success of our second Cycle Crime Conference and are very grateful to the many police forces and industry partners who attended. A highlight of the conference was the 2016 BikeRegister Awards Ceremony which honoured the great work being done by so many police forces using BikeRegister to fight bike crime.”

He concluded: “BikeRegister is now an essential part of the toolkit that police use to fight bike crime and we were delighted to build upon last year’s conference and be able to share so many more fantastic success stories this year.”

Winners of the 2016 BikeRegister Awards:

Quickest Cycle Recovery Award

Winner: Lancashire Police - who not only recovered a stolen bike within an hour but also apprehended the bike thieves, all while the bike owner was on holiday...

Largest Cycle Recovery Award

Winner: Met Police who recovered a total of 23 bikes and returned them to their owners, including 15 bikes belonging to Urban Adventure, an outdoor education facility in Tower Hamlets.

Most Innovative Use of BikeRegister Award

Joint Winner: Met Police - for using BikeRegister to check the search history of a suspected bike thief

Joint Winner: Warwickshire Police for using BikeRegister to identify a victim in a Road Traffic Accident